Thursday, January 28, 2010

First report/photos: J-monster epic DEATH KAPPA

By Norman England

Joining the ranks of MACHINE GIRL and TOKYO GORE POLICE is
DEATH KAPPA, the latest Japan-lensed production from the New York-based Fever
Dreams company. At the helm is Tomoo Haraguchi, a veteran special FX artist and
monster-suit maker whose previous directing credits include SAKUYA: SLAYER OF DEMONS
and KIBAKICHI. Fango logged several days observing the filming of the recently
wrapped DEATH KAPPA, and has photos from the set to share; see them after the
jump.

From the start, with the crew holed up in a dilapidated
building near Japan’s majestic Mt. Fuji, on-set sights prove to be as bizarre
as previous Fever Dreams flicks, and include a torture dungeon stocked with
retro war-era equipment, half-fish/half-human creatures, the mummified remains
of a long-dead mad scientist, a yokai
monster from Japanese mythology, nationalist extremists and, of course,
beautiful women. Several days later, moving to the city of Yokohama, the DEATH
KAPPA shoot takes on a more traditional tone, where the title creature, now
gigantic, dukes it out with the evil and equally mountain-sized Hangyoras.

Often on Japanese genre features, live-action and special FX
sets operate under separate directors, but with years of experience overseeing
FX, Haraguchi commands both on DEATH KAPPA. For the giant-monster scenes, he is
working closely with Isao Takahashi, an art director who began his career on
GODZILLA 1985 and continued his association with Japan’s iconic city-smasher
until the end of the Millennium Godzilla series in 2004. Together, they oversee
a small, but dedicated crew.

Fango’s day on the oversized-creature set sees several large
explosions and the collapse of strategically placed miniature buildings, as
well as a comical volley with a spherical oil-storage tank between the giant
Death Kappa and Hangyoras. “That’s right,” Haraguchi admits when queried about
a particular past influence, “This scene is very reminiscent of the boulder
fight between Godzilla and Ebirah in GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER. I guess you
could say that this kind of thing is a staple of giant-monster battles.”

A longtime fan of both kaiju and yokai, Haraguchi is
incorporating two of his favorite genres within a single production here. The
storyline revolves around failed pop star Kanako, who returns to her hometown
to live with her beloved grandmother. Yet no sooner does she return home than a
pair of crazed couples out on a drinking binge run over and kill her grandma.
With the old woman gone, Kanako takes to running the family shrine, but to make
matters worse, the drunken killers managed to disturb that structure—which is
the keeper of kappa, one of Japan’s many yokai creatures, in this case a benevolent, humanlike
turtle. Resurrected, the kappa is welcomed into town by the villagers.

Meanwhile, unknown to anyone in town, Yuriko, the granddaughter
of a long-dead mad scientist, has chosen to continue her ancestor’s twisted
experiments. Funded by Japanese nationalists seeking to bring the country back
to military prominence, Yuriko works to complete his quest to develop a
half-human/half-fish supersoldier. All hell breaks loose when Yuriko’s plans
are thwarted, and she detonates an atomic weapon that causes both the kappa and
one of the gill men to grow to monster-sized proportions. It is at this point
that the showdown begins between the enlarged gill man, known now as Hangyoras,
and Death Kappa.

Starring as Kanako is Misato Hirata, best known for her
recurring part in TV’s ULTRAMAN MOEBIUS TV series and picked personally for the
role by Haraguchi after he worked with the former gravure idol on the series. Performing opposite Hirata as
the evil Yuriko is Mika, an actress whose background consists of extensive
training in action and martial arts. In addition, DEATH KAPPA features several
guest cameos by well-known Japanese filmmakers.

DEATH KAPPA is expected to be completed late this coming
spring; look for a detailed set report with exclusive interviews in a future
issue of FANGORIA magazine.

In your future feature story, shed some more light on the actresses. On the Japanese kaiju scene, Misato Hirata is more than just eye candy. Her success with Ultraman Mebius has turned her into a consummate Ultra Heroine of our era. She boasts a solid fan base and has done 3 photobooks and 11 DVDs. Hopefully the Death Kappa move will let you see why the talented director handpicked Misato. And let's look out for the young and up-and-coming Mika.

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